DAVID KERR – Official Biography

David Kerr’s work in TV and commercials has made him one of Britain’s most sought-after comedy directors and won him a Best Comedy BAFTA.

In May this year, BBC One broadcast his A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a bold new feature-length version of Shakespeare’s comedy starring Matt Lucas and Maxine Peake, from a script by Russell T Davies.

A 5-star preview in Heat described it as “one of the best Shakespeare adaptations ever.”

TheRadio Times called it “Stunningly ballsy…utterly life-affirming.”

“The funniest, cleverest, most imaginative and original television I have seen.” That’s how The Times summed up David’s recent longform project, Inside No.9, six darkly comic films for BBC2 – with a stellar cast including Gemma Arterton. Inside No.9, written by League of Gentlemen Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton,won a double award at the 2014 Banff Media Festival: Best Comedy and Best Entertainment. In 2015, it won the RTS Award for Best Comedy Performance.

Recent commercials include:

Playthings, a US gun-control PSA which racked up 1.5 million Youtube hits on its first day, sparked articles inTime Magazine and The Washington Postand won Best PSA at the AICP Awards in June 2015, securing its place in the permanent collection of New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

Born in Belfast, David graduated from Cambridge University with a First in Classics and made arts documentaries for BBC2 before pursuing his passion for offbeat but authentic comedy.

David directed Matt Lucas and David Walliams in a series of BBC rock parodies before collaborating with Steve Coogan and Vic Reeves.

He then won a BAFTA for That Mitchell & Webb Look, described by The Hollywood Reporter as “uproarious and cleverly cheeky.” Iconic sketches include The Boy With An Arse For A Facestarring triple BAFTA-winner Olivia Colman alongside an unforgettable posterior prosthetic.

As the lead director of Channel 4‘s celebrated student comedy Fresh Meat, David gave Jack Whitehall his first acting job and set the style for a show described by The Guardian as “smart, sympathetic and pretty much adorable from the get-go.”

Fresh Meat was named Best New Comedy at the British Comedy Awards, Best Scripted Comedy at the RTS Awards, and Best European Comedy at the Monte Carlo TV Festival.

David was lead director of No Offence series 1 (episodes 1 & 2), a bold new comedy drama for Channel 4 written by Paul Abbott (Shameless, State of Play). The series won Best Drama Series at the RTS Awards.

With Element Pictures, David is developing a feature film, The Gee Gees, from an original screenplay by award-winning Irish novelist Kevin Barry.